I remember registering for what I thought would be my senior year when my academic adviser told me I would not have enough credits to graduate in May with the rest of my peers.

As a transfer student, I knew this was a possibility, yet I had no idea how to process my feelings when I was told I would graduate next December instead.

I was upset, frustrated, confused, in denial, and just about every emotion, including being overwhelmed.

That is not how I imagined my plans playing out. I had no clue what my plans were, but I knew this was not it. What was I supposed to do with an extra summer with nobody around? How was I supposed to process the happy but bittersweet feeling of watching my friends start their big-person jobs without me?

Today, however, on the other side of my “bonus summer,” words cannot describe how fortunate I am to have experienced the last three months of my life. The three months I once dreaded. The three months I was spiteful toward. The three months I did not want.

The people I met, the things I knocked off my bucket list, the internship I received, the family vacation I went on, the connections I rekindled, the realization I made about my future, the sense of self I found within me, the toxic habits I let go of, all of it, was worth every single credit I lacked.

Because of this summer, I now have a shoulder to lean on. I now know what it feels like to float down the Buffalo River. I now have an answer to give people when they ask me what I plan to do with my degree. I now move forward in peace with optimism about my future.

Looking at my summer in retrospect, I almost feel ashamed to have ever wanted anything different. I feel guilty for being upset with the extra time life gave me after recognizing time is all that some people wish for.

This puts many things into perspective. We feel some days give us too much time to waste while others don’t give us enough. We also feel bad days never end and good days go by too fast.

What if we stopped dreading the bad days? What if we approached them the same way we did our good days? What if we gave ourselves the illusion they could be just as enjoyable as the rest? What if we took advantage of all the days given to us and stopped prejudging them to be worth it or not?

Imagine our lives then.

We would spend more time feeling optimistic. We would have more reasons to smile. We would find things to look forward to. We would wake up each morning with a purpose.

With that, never throw away the time life gives you because living through it will teach you its purpose.